Strawberry Haven, Part Two: The Aftermath
by mat528
Summary: So, Willow and Spike have gotten closer as friends, and possibly lovers, but what happens when a certain blonde Slayer finds out, as well as the rest of the gang? Will it cost the witch and the vampire their relationship?
1. Chapter 1

STRAWBERRY HAVEN, THE AFTERMATH

**A/N: Just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed the first story, "Strawberry Haven"! Your response to this fic have been so wonderful, and I am humbled by how many loved the story. I mentioned the possibility of doing the sequel, so here it is.**

**Timetable: the events in this and the other story are right after "Once More With Feeling", so Buffy and Spike have not had each other yet.**

**Disclaimer: still don't own everything, in spite of trying to wish upon my character Trillion's magic wand! It all belongs to Joss, 20****th**** Century Fox, and any subsidiaries.**

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The first sound the platinum drinker of blood heard was his telly announcing how weight loss could be maintained if one would just buy a diet pill for $39.99. Spike silenced that fib straight away as he switched off the idiot box via remote control.

The second sound the vampire heard was the even breathing of the soft body on top of him. He stole a glance at Willow as she slept soundly. Her flame colored hair spilled out all over him, framing her face as it curled. Her lips curled up in a partial smile while she murmured some unintelligible words.

He never thought he had seen anything more beautiful.

_Gotta get __**those **__thoughts right out o' your mind, mate! _He advised himself mentally.

Her breath caught in her throat as Willow woke up. He heard her blink, then raise her head. For a moment, witch and vampire looked at each other, not daring to say anything. All too soon, she moved so that she sat next to him.

"Spike…?" she asked softly. Looking at his chest just then, she saw that he was fully clothed in his usual black ensemble, and she was still in her brown jacket.

Spike didn't answer, but he rose and went over to his 'fridge. Willow frowned a little, wanting him to return to the empty space next to her. He got a box of granola from the shelf above it and opened the 'fridge to see if he had any milk. When he saw that he didn't, he turned around.

"Got breakfast for you, but you'll have to eat it dry," he said, holding up the cereal box so that she could see.

"I don't have milk," he reported.

In Latin, the witch said, "Milk, appear."

A white container materialized on the shelf. Spike took it, then proceeded to take a small bowl from a table next to the refrigerator. He filled the bowl with both contents, putting some of the granola in a yellow mug. Opening his refrigerator once more, the vampire got the pig's blood out and mixed it with the cereal in his cup.

"Eww…" Willow let loose the comment. Spike stiffened somewhat, but then recovered a moment later.

"Not apologizing for what I am, Red," he said, putting the mug with its blood-and-cereal mixture into the microwave. Putting it on "high" for a minute, he waited until the oven "dinged" and removed the mug. He walked back to the sofa, sat down and downed the contents in one, fell gulp, letting some of the hemoglobin dribble down his face.

Despite her being slightly grossed out, Willow watched him intently. "Does that taste any better than just straight blood?" she asked. Spike jerked his lips away from the cup, staring at her.

"I mean, it must taste strange," Willow prompted. Spike allowed himself a small chuckle.

"Kinda does," he admitted, adding, "but then, anything would taste unusual with pig's blood."

"You mean you didn't swipe some human blood from the hospital?" the Wicca wanted to know. When Spike's gaze grew stormy, Willow amended, "I mean, that is what you do sometimes, isn't it? Not that I blame you for doing it."

Spike's intense eyes never left hers as he said, "'Haven't gotten human blood in awhile. 've been visitin' Mr. Hennessey, of late."

Mike Hennessey was the butcher in Sunnydale. He always had many cuts of meat in his shop, and he was one of the few people who knew that some of his customers had "special" needs. He didn't blink an eye whenever vampires took some of his blood when he had it, which was pretty often. Spike and on occasion Angel were two of his main customers, though there were others.

"Do you miss it?" Willow wondered. Spike jerked up from the couch and went to a sink he had installed. He threw the mug into it and let the cold water trickle down on it.

"What do _you_ think, Red?" He thundered. "Of _course _I miss it!"

Willow was contrite, not really knowing what she'd said to offend him.

"You think it's a bloody cakewalk not bein' able to drain folks like I want?" he asked. "You think I _like _being the butt of jokes from the demon set, not only 'cause of my chip, but because I hang around with you lot?"

Willow's eyes started tearing, despite her realization that she could clean Spike's clock magically if she wanted at any time. She swallowed, not knowing what to do, or what to say. The master vampire was abashed. He hadn't meant to go brassy on her, and he forced himself to be calm.

"Look, Red," he explained patiently, also handing Willow a napkin that he took from his shelf, "it's like eating snails or somethin' when you're used to eating chocolate. I c'n do it; I c'n get nourishment from it, since it's blood an' all, but it's hard goin' from Baluga Caviar to sardines, you know?"

The Witch got the analogy. When he returned to the sofa and threw himself down on it in a huff, Willow reached out and stroked his hair, allowing some of his curls to tumble free. She liked the feel of it, she decided, running it through her fingers a little bit longer. Spike pressed his head into the warmth of her fingers, reveling in her massaging motion. Buffy had touched his hair at least once, but Spike had never felt as alive as he felt with Willow's strokes. His lower member stood at attention as, unknowing, Willow continued her exquisite torture.

"Willow?" Spike asked. The use of her real name grabbed her attention.

"What?" she responded with a question.

Her hand stopped its circular motion. Spike didn't know whether to be elated, or depressed. He settled for neither as he got the bowl of milk and cereal and gave them to her. As she wrapped her lips around the spoon, the vampire imagined her lips sucking on him. He suddenly bounded from the couch, making her jump.

"Okay, uh, here's the thing, pet," he said in a voice he hoped wasn't too high. At her frown, he ran his fingers through his locks of hair.

"Vamp's gotta sleep, you know?" he suggested. Willow dropped the spoon in the bowl.

"Oh! Right!" She exclaimed getting off his couch. Willow grabbed whatever paraphernalia she had and with a hasty "sorry", she left.

His eyes not leaving her retreating back, Spike headed for his shower downstairs, hoping the ice cold water his pipe trickled on him would quell his desire for her. The demon inside roared its displeasure, but a part of Spike wasn't ready to move on from his relationship with Buffy. Of course, they didn't really have a "relationship". It was more like a knock-down, drag out fight and then chain the one you love orgy.

The only time there had been the suggestion that there could be something more was when Buffy and he had kissed after they'd been singing. But since that time, the Slayer had, in typical fashion, kept her distance. Spike had been chasing her both before and after she had returned from the grave, but Buffy had given him nothing but un-beating heart ache and misery. Oh, the spark of passion was there, no doubt about that, and the Chosen One would be a good…no, make that a great shag, but the poet in him wanted more.

He got undressed and reached for the bar of soap as the women he'd been with paraded through his mind. Drusilla had been both mother and lover, nurturer and torturer, when he had become a vampire. She had shown him what it felt like to have an all-consuming love and obsession for a woman. Spike had stayed with her; he'd been loyal to her, even when she'd been unfaithful to him by shacking up with Angelus. But that night, when he'd chained her, he realized that his love he carried for her had changed.

_When I look a' you, all I see is the __**Slayer, **_Drusilla had told him. Spike had vehemently denied her words at the time; he'd been so brokenhearted, but deep down, he knew he'd left his raven haired goddess a long time ago.

The blond vampire stepped into the makeshift shower and considered Harmony. He'd shagged her only because she reminded him of the Slayer.

_Nothing there on __**that**__ highway, _Spike thought as he turned on the water and let it fall on him, _'cept a speed bump._

He lathered up his skin, picturing Harm for a brief moment, but somehow, the image of her didn't stick. When his hand snaked downward to his member, Spike thought about an angel with hair the color of a flame, dancing with him in a coffee shop. Her fingers stroked his back as they twirled to a romantic melody. He pictured her hands running over him as they stood naked under a waterfall and her mouth on his chest as she continued her assault until she reached his manhood.

And, he knew without a doubt, he was doomed to lose his un-beating heart a third time.


	2. Chapter 2

STRAWBERRY HAVEN, PART TWO, THE AFTERMATH

CHAPTER TWO

**A/N: Kudos to all those who liked this and the first story! LOL. Just letting you know…this chapter is more for comedic purposes rather than dramatic or action purposes. I will try to put in some action or drama in the next few chappies as the plot advances. 'Till then, please read and review, and enjoy! **

**Disclaimers: don't own nothin', and any references to any movies or characters that are publically recognizable are not intended to infringe.**

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Willow went to Buffy's house later that day after walking in the park for at least two hours after having left Spike's crypt. She thought about how the vampire had felt as she cuddled with him. He was didn't have a heartbeat, and he was cold to the touch, but she had felt nothing like that when they had been together. What Willow felt was an undeniable warmth; in fact, she felt a fiery heat unlike anything she'd ever experienced with Oz and Tara.

Oh, she had passion for her previous lovers, and she felt tingly with them, but Spike was different. He was a heat wave in the wake of a warm breeze. She had never experienced such deep desire before. It thrilled her; it excited her, and at the same time, it unnerved her. What could happen if she gave into it, just for a moment?

What _would _happen if her friends found out?

She had reached Buffy's porch when out of nowhere Xander punched her playfully in the ribs.

"Hey!" she yelled, her thoughts of Spike interrupted.

"Hey Will," Xander greeted, a bag in his hands, as well as a coffee carrier with assorted beverages on it.

"Oh, it's just you, Xander," she said, deflated. She let both of them inside. Xander crossed to the kitchen and placed the items on the counter.

"Boy, Wills," he said with mock disappointment, "I've had better greetings from vampires." When Willow stared at him, he amended, "okay, not really, but what has you in the Twilight Zone this morning?"

Xander grabbed a jelly donut from the bag and helped himself to a steaming mug of coffee. "You still thinking about Tara?" he wondered.

Willow didn't want to launch into a full discussion about Spike just then so she nodded. Xander put his coffee down and put a companionable hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry," he said, "everything will work out in the end. She'll see what a doofus she is and come back, or you'll find someone new."

_Someone new…_the words echoed in her mind. Willow thought once more about a generous pair of lips kissing hers, and a pair of strong hands touching her on her….

"Where's Buffy?" she wondered suddenly. Xander munched some more on his donut.

"Don't know," he responded, "but she said to be here at nine before she went to work, so here I am, bearing goodies."

The witch remembered all the time she had to bring breakfast because Buffy couldn't cook, or maybe she hadn't wanted to. Willow considered Spike's giving her some of his cereal that he used with his morning meal without being prompted. She compared his thoughtfulness to the times when Buffy or anyone else had volunteered to make breakfast for her, and she came up short.

Okay, Tara had sometimes cooked for her, but once in a blue moon. Oz had made breakfast one time, but he was so used to eating out since he often played gigs with his Dingoes band and was on the road constantly. Besides, Oz was so long ago in the romance department that she really didn't think about him much anymore. Spike was rapidly becoming the "now" in her life.

Willow became aware of Xander's long fingers waving in her face. They were covered with the remnants of strawberry jelly from a jelly donut.

"Yo, Will? Not loving the blanking out, here," he said. Willow didn't want him to know the real reason for her distraction so she thought of a plausible excuse.

"Sorry. Just...hungry," she said, selecting a plain donut from the bag and some herbal tea from the drink carrier. Xander seemed to accept her explanation. He went into the living room to wait for Buffy and busied himself with watching the television.

Dawn ran down the stairs. As the dark haired young man flipped through channels, Buffy's younger sister grabbed the remote, earning a "hey" from Xander.

"Hey, yourself, jelly man," Dawn responded flippantly. She selected a channel with a teenage talk show on it. Xander crossed his arms, looking for all the world like a two-year-old.

"Hey, Dawnie! Where's Buffy?" Willow asked Dawn. The younger Summers' blue eyes glanced at the Wicca.

"You really wanna see her after what you did?" Dawn asked, accusingly.

Willow drew herself up, saying defensively, "Well...I know I made a major mistake! I know I should have checked whether or not she was in Hell before I raised her, but we _all _wanted Buffy back, even Giles!"

Dawn crossed her arms, retaliating by stating flatly, "Spike wouldn't have. He told me."

_Thanks a lot, Dawnie, _the witch thought. _You'd make my Jewish mom proud, handing out the guilt._

Xander came to his childhood friend's rescue. "Who _cares_ what Captain Peroxide thinks?" Xander asked, wiping his mouth and taking a swig of his coffee.

"Willow did what she thought was best. Buffy just has to learn to deal," he said, unaware that the object of his discussion had come downstairs softly.

"She did, huh?" the Slayer asked, her face void of emotion; her voice just as empty. Willow's eyes measured her best friend's appearance; then, she thought about what Spike had said the night before.

_You didn't check to see where Buffy was before yankin' her out o' her warm, comfortable paradise, now did you? _The vampire had asked.

Buffy had been in a secure, safe place; Willow had taken her out and put her back into the realm of chaos. No wonder the Chosen One was spooked. No kidding, Buffy would be detached and adrift emotionally to avoid getting hurt again. Better not to feel anything; that way, if something went wrong again like, oh say, a third death, the Chosen One wouldn't be devastated, hanging on a thread like she was now.

"H-how are you, Buffy?" Willow ventured. Buffy turned cold eyes on her seemingly former friend. Willow found that apathy more terrifying than anything she'd ever been up against before.

An apathetic person was capable of anything.

"Fine," Buffy intoned. Dawn and Xander munched on their breakfasts rapidly, but Willow ate very slowly, waiting to see the next move Buffy would make.

The Slayer sat at her small dining room table and looked at the morning paper. Xander, Dawn and Willow came to the table and sat. Someone knocked at the door. Dawn went over to it and swung it open.

"Hey, Anya," she greeted. The medium blond haired beauty came in, her eyes taking in everyone at the table.

"Boy, can you feel the tension in here," she said. "Perhaps I'm in the wrong business at the Magic Shop! If I could bottle and sell the emotional upheavals, we'd have enough cash for my wedding, a honeymoon, and possibly a world cruise!"

She dutifully took a seat beside Xander, who told her, "Ahn, hon...so, _so _off topic, here." He grabbed her hand and kissed it. Although she was a little miffed at her fiancé, Anya smiled and playfully batted her eyes. She then helped herself to a bagel from the bag.

Buffy put down the paper, saying, "Well, did anyone read this morning's headline?"

Anya piped up, responding, "You mean about the break in at the jewelry store last night?"

Buffy nodded. Willow asked, all business now, "what about it?" Buffy slid the paper over so that all of the Scoobies and her sister could follow her lead.

"This is the third burglary in as many days," Buffy reported.

She, Xander, Willow and Anya had been investigating a theft of an artifact from the Magic Shop three days before. The thing in question had been a dull-looking bronze box. Upon further research, Willow had revealed to Buffy that the box was not used to initiate magic spells, but it was an ordinary storage device.

Buffy continued, saying, "So who are they, and what are they taking and why are they taking these things?"

"What's the list so far, Buff?" Xander wanted to know.

"So far, there's been a peridot colored stone taken, and from another store…a stereo one, a transmitter, and from the first store robbed, an antique shop, a key," the Slayer responded. She stood up, her face in determined mode.

"We'll split up, check the sites of the thefts individually," she ordered, her eyes falling on Xander first.

"Xander, you check the transmitter; Willow, see what you can learn about the stone, and I'll take the key. It's obvious someone wants to build something, and knowing this town, it's not warm and fuzzy, whatever it might be," she said. Wordlessly, the others started for the door.

"What do I do?" Dawn asked. Buffy, Willow and Xander turned around.

"I said, what do _I _do?" Buffy's sister repeated.

"You go to school today and try to act like a normal kid," she told her younger sister. Ignoring the look of death that Dawn threw Buffy's way, the Slayer added, "Anya look up what the three items have in common in the Magic Shop."

Dawn jumped off of the coffee table she had been sitting on. "Hey, Buffy!" she shouted. When the Slayer turned around, she said, "today is a holiday! Sunnydale is celebrating MLK day for the second year in a row, so I don't have to go to school!"

Xander looked affronted. "Today?" he echoed. _"Today _is a holiday? Why couldn't they have had an extra holiday when _we _were all going to school?"

Anya caught the look the Slayer threw her fiancé. "Now, who's off topic, Xander?" the former vengeance demon asked, selecting a book and starting to look at it.

"Why can't _I _help?" Dawn whined. Buffy stared at her.

"Because, if we end up somewhere magic to do research, you might touch something you shouldn't, or take something that could get us into a universe of trouble like when we were singing, so you're staying put," the Chosen One said calmly.

Buffy wished that Giles were here. She was so angry with her Watcher for abandoning her since he knew full well what she dealt with on a daily basis. The Slayer was just not cut out to be a mother _and _a defender of the world!

_Oh, well…_she thought, her apathy sliding back into place, _I always get left. Angel left me; Riley did too, so why should Giles be any different? _As Buffy considered her disasters in the love department, she thought about the one man…no, make that vampire, who never left her, although she really wanted him to: Spike.

Grabbing her jacket, the Slayer ordered, "Dawnie, I know exactly where you can celebrate this holiday!"

Xander caught Buffy's train of thought as he ran through the list of available baby…no, make that _teen_sitters.

"Don't tell me!" he exclaimed. "You're not taking her to spend the day with Deadboy Junior!"

"I so am!" Buffy asserted.

"He'll corrupt her for sure!" Xander protested.

"Where's the bad?" Buffy pressed her point. "He'll be asleep most of the time, since it's daytime, and she can watch TV or read some of her homework that…" her eyes bored into Dawn's…"I'm sure she's got!"

Willow got up from her seat just then, throwing on her jacket. "I'll take her," she volunteered. "I'll make sure she gets there, and I'll take some research-y material with me on the green sparkly gem thing."

"Standing. Right. Here," Dawn said sotto vocce. The younger Summers tugged on a blue jacket, muttering that she didn't need a baby sitter. Buffy seemed satisfied for the moment that Willow was trying to make up for her sins of the past by helping take care of Dawn.

Dawn was okay with spending the day with Spike, but she also was thinking of the opportunities to get into mischief that being away from her sister and the Scoobies could provide.

"What if he has plans?" Dawn inquired, heading for the door.

"The Count of Comatose wouldn't at this time of day," Xander said. Both Willow and Anya shook their heads. Dawn just glared at the boy for insulting her best friend. Buffy looked nonchalant.

"What?" Xander asked. He left right behind the others, his girlfriend sighing as she poured through a book.

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Spike woke up to some pounding on the door to his crypt. He threw off his black satin sheets and made his way upstairs as the pounding sounded.

"Oi! Vampire hearing here!" he said, flinging on his matching black terry cloth robe. When the door sounded a third time, he yelled, "Okay, I'm bloody _coming!"_

He flung open his door to his Nibblet and Willow, who uncharacteristically hung outside of his door.

"Sorry for this, but…" Willow began. Spike gestured the girl and young woman inside.

"Come in," he invited, touched as he realized that for the first time, someone waited before just barging into his home. He caught the look in the witch's eyes that suggested the waiting outside was her idea and sent a smile in her direction. Willow blushed, her heartbeat skipping just a little at his grin. Dawn was totally oblivious to the exchange as she went downstairs and flopped on the vampire's couch.

"Got any new videos?" her question drifted upward to Spike's super hearing.

After asking Willow if the Slayer put her and Dawn up to coming and receiving the older human's nod, Spike muttered, "Figures. Bitch orders everyone around and expects her puppets to dance to her bloody tune!" He went downstairs, followed closely by Willow.

"We don't want to put you out," Willow said apologetically. "Maybe we could just go over to Tara's vacant apartment."

Spike shook his head. "No, you can hang about here," he said, his blue eyes falling on the Summers girl. "Jus' keep the noise down, Bit." Dawn looked at Spike's videos.

Holding up a Stephen King movie, Dawn asked, "Hey, can we watch…?" Willow grabbed the videotape. Spike blanched, shrugging.

"Wha'?" he asked innocently. "Clem an' me sometimes bond over that! Makes us laugh, it does."

Willow put the tape of the _Texas Chainsaw Massacre _down where Dawn couldn't reach it without going through her to grab it. "We are _so _not watching that!" she shouted.

"What?" Dawn asked. "You guys face _way _scarier stuff than what's on that tape!"

"Yeah, well, you don't have to advertise it!" Willow retorted. Her eyes scanned Spike's collection, which was less than ideal.

"Don't you have something that is…I dunno…a little more romantic, like _Sixteen Candles?" _the witch asked. Spike snorted.

"Like I would buy _any _vid that has an actor lookin' like a young version of Peaches in a soddin' leading role!" he bounced back. Grabbing a concert tape of _The Police: 1984, _the vampire handed it over to Willow.

The witch nodded her approval, while Dawn rolled her eyes, saying, "Oh, give me a break! A rock group with a law enforcement name is _so _lame!"

"Look, pet," Spike started saying, then he thought better of it, as sleep began to overtake him.

"Jus' run with it," he finished, "so long as you keep the noise down. 'M not as young as I once was, 'kay?" He made his way over to his bed and tuned both females out as he went to sleep. Willow conjured up her knapsack (which she'd forgotten when she had left Buffy's house,) and grabbed a book of magic gems, the first volume, and she sifted through it to see if there was any information about the apple green colored stone. As she read page after page while Dawn watched the tape, Willow's eyes strayed over to the sleeping vampire in the King sized bed.

A cover had dipped down a little, exposing some of Spike's robe and then his perfectly sculpted chest. Dawn had also glanced at Spike, and what she saw took her breath away.

_Wow! _The younger female thought.

Catching Willow's appreciative glance, she wondered how long it would be before Spike and her sister's friend were shagging each other, as her honorary big brother would say. Dawn also wondered if there was any way she could bet on the length of time before Spike had Willow, and then, she let loose a mental _ick_ for even daring to jump on that train! It was a good thing, though, that she pictured _them _in bed and not her older sister with Riley, or worse, her Dad with his secretary, Kimberley.

Now, _that_ was major league old! Dawn forced herself to concentrate on the golden haired man the tape revealed as Sting as he sang about a King of Pain and decided that, for old vampire-big-brother music, it wasn't bad.

She and Willow continued to do their individual things, lost in their own tasks, as Willow waited to get the information that could aid Buffy and Dawn finally opened her book to try to study for her math test the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE: STRAWBERRY HAVEN, THE AFTERMATH

**A/N: Sorry for a short chapter this go around. The next one should be a little longer.**

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Spike woke up later in the day to find that Dawn had apparently gone home, and Willow had returned. She was bent over her laptop and scribbling notes on a pad. The vampire peered over her shoulder, casting no shadow as he looked at her handwriting.

"Anyone ever tell you you write like a pharmacist, Red?" he joked. Willow jumped slightly.

"Don't _do _that!" she said.

Spike knew what she was talking about; Buffy had said something before about his "skulking" prior to her being able to sense his signature when he was around her. He sat on his couch so that he faced the chair she was in, his devilish grin growing wider.

"Wha'?" Spike asked, all innocence.

"That skulk-y thing you vampires do," Willow complained. "It totally wigs me out!"

"So, my guess is: you need to relax," Spike murmured. "I have a perfect cure for stress." He walked over to her and massaged her shoulders without being asked. The witch sighed, leaning back and letting his fingers do their magic on her. When he started reaching lower near her breasts, however, Willow sat straight up.

"Hey!" she shouted. "Hands..._hands!_" Spike slowly removed his hands, clearly annoyed at not being able to further his ministrations.

"Face up, Red: my digits were exactly where you wanted 'em," he said confidently.

Willow looked aghast. "I...so...didn't want them there!" She protested weakly.

The vampire smirked, then said, "Can't lie to me about that one. I c'n sense when you want me."

The titian haired young woman countered, "Yeah, well, maybe I want Tara." When Spike looked even more annoyed, Willow continued.

"My love's still for her," she whispered, although she found herself doubting the veracity of her statement. Willow knew she still had strong feelings for Tara, but she liked Spike, too. In fact, she liked the vampire _a lot. _

Spike had no idea about how she was feeling. Thinking he was losing ground rapidly, Spike said the first thing that popped into his head.

"Maybe I was thinking about the Slayer too just then, when I rubbed you, Red," he told her. Willow was slightly hurt but she willed herself to look relieved.

"Maybe we should research what's going on in town," Willow requested, her eyes pleading with Spike to drop the subject.

"Somethin's going on in Sunnyhell?" he asked sarcastically. "Well, color me bloody _amazed!_" Spike looked at the data on her computer screen and frowned.

"You're lookin' up an Atten'tanue demon?" the vampire queried.

"Well, he was the next demon on my list," Willow answered. "Why, do you know about him?" They both saw a demon with long, white hair resembling thin pulses of light. The demon was listed as being only about five foot three, but it had glowing white eyes with a bluish tint, and its skin was dark brown and shriveled.

"Her," Spike corrected.

"Her," Willow repeated. "You know about the antennae demon?"

"A-ten-tan-u-a demon," the platinum blond said slowly. "Every demon knows about them. Came from the Aztec community. Been causin' bad news ever since for other demons."

"Why?" Willow asked. Spike sat down beside her to explain.

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Xander looked at Anya while she explained. "An Atten'tanue demon is a sort of channeling demon for other smaller ones. She acts as the focal point for demons to communicate with humans or other life forms. I remember going with one before meeting my friend, Halle," the former vengeance demon reported.

Buffy came in, slamming the front door as she finished Anya's thought. "And, now, someone wants to raise a demon," she said.

"It looks that way," Anya commented.

"So the artifacts being stolen are mojo objects for placing a cell phone call to this demonic antenna so she can gather other ones?" Xander guessed. When both young women looked at him grimly, the young man said, "Sweet. How do we stop her?"

Buffy looked at the book Anya had. "It says here that we have to stop the holders of the thingies at their source," the Slayer answered. She looked at Anya, asking, "right?"

The currently dark blonde haired girl said, "Yes. If the summoners are relieved of their talismans, then the demon should be bound and all of the smaller ones would return to their dimensions of origin, provided that she didn't eat them up to get sronger, of course." At that last statement, Xander made a face and raised his hand.

When the Slayer and former demon looked at him, he said, "I just wanna say a big 'ewww' to that last bit of information, which I so, so didn't need!"

Buffy grabbed some additional battle gear and said, "Let's close down the mess hall before the buffet shows up!" Buffy's cell phone rang just then.

"Hello?" the Slayer asked. When she heard her best friend's voice, she asked, "Willow? What's up?"

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Inside Spike's crypt, Willow walked outside to boost the signal. When that still didn't work, the titian haired witch whispered an incantation in Latin to make the signal stronger.

Buffy's voice asked, "Willow? You there?"

"Sorry, Buffy," Willow apologized. "I had to go outside. I have some information for you."

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"Like the fact that an antenna demon is behind these things going on?" Buffy supplied, seeing Xander grab a knapsack. The Chosen One heard Willow reply in the affirmative before she heard the witch's "oh, shoot" voice after that.

"I wanted to be the one to dish out," her voice said. "Well, have you also heard that only a human can summon this particular demon?"

"A human," Buffy muttered, not showing any alarm or frustration. "Oh. That makes our job tougher."

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Beside Spike's crypt, the witch told Buffy, "Look, I'll explain everything when we meet. Spike said that their power only works one way."

"Spike?" Buffy's voice asked, not without a trace of agitation. "He's been helping again? He's supposed to be asleep!"

"Nice to hear from you, too, pet," Spike shouted over the distance so that Buffy could hear him. Willow saw him emerge from his crypt.

"Well, he can help us, at least a little," Willow protested. "I mean, if he knows all about Mrs. Antenna, and all…".

"Atten'tanue!" Spike cried to her, exasperated.

There was a brief moment of hesitation, then Buffy ordered, "All right. Bring him. Maybe he can be of some help." Spike grabbed Willow's cell phone just then.

"You really know how to make a bloke feel appreciated!" he said sarcastically.

"Spike," Buffy's voice told the vampire, "Just to set the record straight: I don't want to invite you along, but you might be able to help us find the humans, or demons, behind this thing with your superior senses, so get ready and meet us at the head gravestone in the center of the cemetary at seven."

Spike lowered the phone so that only Willow heard his, "Great! I've been reduced from a Master Vampire to a soddin' blood hound!" He put the phone back up to his lips and replied in the affirmative. Buffy hung up.

Putting a hand on Spike's shoulder, Willow said softly, "You're more than just a tracker. She doesn't see it, but you are."

Spike turned genuine, grateful blue orbs on her. "Thanks, Red," he whispered. "I needed that." Together, they walked to the head gravestone in the cemetery to wait for the others.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Before leaving with Xander, Buffy said to Anya, "I need more research on this thing, and I also need someone to watch Dawn." Anya shrugged.

"Sure," she said, "your sister practically watches herself."

Dawn came out of the kitchen just then with her math book and a big sandwich that had a pink gooey substance oozing from the sides. Xander decided that he didn't want to know what it was; Anya and Buffy ignored Dawn's latest weird food craze. Both Chosen one and young man with a real job left the house to meet Willow and Spike.


	4. Chapter 4

STRAWBERRY HAVEN, PART TWO: THE AFTERMATH

CHAPTER FOUR

**A/N: The nerdy trio appears in this chapter. That said, however, they may be a little OOC, but I will try to keep the flavor of their characters a little bit. Please let me know how I am doing, thanks!**

XXXXXXXXXX

Andrew Wells looked at his fellow conspirators as they prepared to bind the demon they'd captured. He looked away from her glowing eyes, unable to face his part in the grand scheme of things. At first, the timid, brown haired boy had been excited at the prospect of using his talent to summon demons. To him, that was the ultimate adventure, even better than when Luke Skywalker had used the Force as a full-fledged Jedi Knight.

Warren Mears, the leader of their little group, had made it sound so great. It would be like a children's game. They would steal the items from the stores and make the thefts look like accidents; then, with the pieces they had acquired, they'd use them to call forth the Demon Atten'tanue. With her help, the trio would gain control over the one they wanted most and once that was achieved, nothing would be beyond them.

Yeah, he thought, that sounded great on paper, but not in real life. For one thing, the demon was not cooperating. Her frequency seemed far away, but getting her to arrive there was the least of their problems. The challenge lay in restraining her long enough to make the spell stick so that the One they wanted would be their slave.

"Tell me, Obi Wan Kenobi," Jonathan said to Warren, "how exactly are we gonna use the Force for this job?"

Warren looked snidely at his co-conspirator. _You are so lame! _He thought to both Jonathan and Andrew.

"Our Force is the spell book and the talismans, along with Mrs. Demon! Once we have them, we can do anything we want with her!" Warren replied. He went to the library they had and grabbed the spell book off the shelf. He flipped through the pages until he found the passage he sought. A picture of their prey fell out. Warren held it up, and all three gazed upon the blonde beauty.

_Won't be long now..._Warren thought as he scanned the picture of the One.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Spike saw that, despite the sunlight that was still around, he wasn't burning or even slightly hot. The vampire's head tilted to one side as he regarded his attractive companion.

"Red?" He asked. Willow walked confidently up the street toward Buffy's house. The sun was starting to move in a Western direction.

"Huh?" Willow queried.

"You workin' some mojo on me?" Spike half-asked; half-accused. Willow stopped and looked back at him. The vampire was uncomfortable as he stopped striding down the sidewalk.

Willow flinched under Spike's scrutiny. "You know I don't like that," he said in a low voice.

"So, you'd rather I let you burn up?" She asked, her eyes hurt. Spike didn't respond, but inside he knew he was on shallow ground. Hurt-Willow equaled angry-Willow, equaled magic-gone-haywire Red, and that was a disaster waiting to happen.

"We told them we'd meet them later," Spike reminded her, his voice surprisingly gentle. "'could've waited 'til nightfall."

"And give those humans a chance to summon Miss Antenna," Willow told the vampire. "This way, we can all find them before things go kablooey!"

"Still," he replied, "'s not a good idea to use too much mojo and whatnot. Makes you crave it too much."

"So that's it!" Willow shouted as they grew closer to the house. "You're afraid of me! Afraid I'll go postal, or something! I get it! Tara was afraid, too."

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Spike shouted, then at her look he amended, "well, not much of anything. But Red, I know about addictions. Got two of the worst ones...blood and cigarettes. And, the only way to beat them's to stop giving in to them as much as you can."

"Yeah," Willow said bitterly, "'cause that advice always works for _you!"_

Spike was officially annoyed. He had tried to reign in his temper, partially because he was afraid of what Red could do to him, mostly because he had begun to care for her just a little, despite his demon urging him to brass her off. He jerked his head away from his perusal of her and fished out a fag from his duster's pocket. Lighting up, Spike blew a curling ring in the air.

"Was only tryin' to help," he said in a chilling voice, "but little Spike's got no good advice for any o' the High-and-Mighty Scoobies, right, pet?"

Willow turned her angry green eyes on him. "Are we back to those accusations again? Fine!" She shouted. "I don't know what possessed me to even _begin _to feel sorry for you, let alone like you!"

"Don't know what let me take my guard down 'round you, Red!" the blond vampire snapped back. "You an' your li'l friends ought to come with labels reading, 'don't touch: can be toxic to your bloody health!'"

"Oh, really?" Willow ground out, crossing her arms. "Well…right back at you, mister!"

As they made their way up Buffy's lawn, Spike was torn between being maddened by her and lusting for her, especially now, when her anger made her blood rise to her cheeks. He banked down both sets of thoughts when Spike became aware of Buffy and Xander walking toward their location.

"Spike…" Xander greeted coldly. Spike blew some smoke in the young man's face.

"Whelp," Spike said just as icily. He extinguished his cigarette after he tossed it to the ground.

"We decided to meet you at the crypt earlier than seven," Buffy explained. The vampire nodded before the Slayer asked, "but, how come you're not all smoky-dusty right now?"

Spike jerked his head in Willow's direction. _Not you, Wills, _Xander thought, though he didn't speak his thoughts aloud. _Couldn't let dead boy junior __**be **__dead?_

XXXXXXXXXXX

Across town in the basement they were in, the three nerds puzzled over a similar thought.

"You know that vampire's with them," Andrew cautioned.

"Spike's not gonna be much of a problem," Warren said confidently. He looked at Andrew.

"Bind the demon," he told him. The blond nerd recited ancient words he knew by heart. Soon, a blue white smoke spewed forth. Long hair hanging way down followed. Her body, looking shriveled up like an overripe prune, appeared. In her extremely wrinkled face were two, huge, baggy eyes. Her mouth seemed to be covered with a thin layer of skin. Above her gleaming, blue white hair, a transmitting electric current resembling a bolt of lightning was in constant motion.

"Wooowww!" Jonathan said to Andrew. He and his co conspirator smacked hands as the smaller young man said to the blond nerd who had summoned the demon, "you _rock, _dude!"

Andrew smiled a supercilious grin in Warren's direction. The older young man read more of the spell and bound the demon in invisible chains.

Struggling to no avail, the skin near the demon's mouth opened and closed, though no words issued forth.

"What do you want, humans?" they heard a voice like the crackling of dried leaves ask.

"We want you to help us summon a powerful demon which my friend here..." Warren said, indicating Andrew, who gave him a look, "so that we can channel it into the One." The Atten'tuae laughed.

"You wish to use me for _that_? For helping you put a demon of legendary stature into _one mortal girl_?" She asked haughtily. "Such a waste of my powers…".

"Not for _this_ girl," Warren said confidently. He held up the picture of the blonde girl, asking, "Can you do it?"

The demon snatched the picture in her talons. The picture glowed with white energy, as though she were trying to sense the presence behind the photo. One minute later, the demon dropped the picture as though she had been burned. Could she do it? Dare she attempt to help these mortals ensnare that one?

She continued to twist and turn, but when her efforts proved fruitless, she told the trio, "I will do what you will."

Warren's and Jonathan's smiles grew by leaps and bounds. Andrew was fearful, but he forced a smile, hoping that this wouldn't blow up in their faces like the Death Star had done. The demon began the ritual.


End file.
